Pipe-brushing machine



Nov. 1, 1927.

E. P. BLY

PIPE BRUSHING MACHINE Filed Sept. 21. 1926 attoz we? Patented Nov. 1,1927.

UNITED s'rars Lamas)- I EDWIN P. BIJY, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA,ASSIGNOR TO STANDARD OIL COM- PANY OF CALIFORNIA, OF SAN FRANCISCO,CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

- PIPE-BRUSHING/MACHINE.

Application filed September 21, 19296. Serial No. 136,763. I

This invention relates to a machine for brushing a surface to clean itforany purpose. This is often necessary about industrial plants toprepare surfaces that are to A be painted. While the invention isintended to be useful in any situation requiring the -brushing of asurface of large area, it is described by way of example in the presentspecification as applied to brushing of pipe. It is frequently necessaryto brush long lengths of pipe or pipe lines to prepare them forreceiving paint.

The general objectof this invention is to provide a simple power-drivenmachine for performing this operation; also to provide a machine of thiskind in which the pressure of the brushes on the surface canbe'regulated;

and to provide a machine which can be readily moved by hand over thework or surface to be brushed.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a machine of this kindin which the zones or areas brushed by the brushes will overlap, so as.toenable the machine to clean a broad zone as the machine advances. .Asapplied to a machine for brushing pipe, one of the objects of theinvention is to provide simple means for supporting the brushes toenable them to reach substantially the entire upper side of the pipe,and to provide means for regulating the pressure of i the brushesagainst the surface of the pipe.

Further objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel parts and combination of parts to bedescribed hereinafter, all of which contribute to produce an efficientpipe brushing machine.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described in the followingspecification, while the broad scope of the invention is pointed out inthe appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machine embodying my invention andhaving a special con'str-uetion adapting it for brushing a pipe, whichisshown in cross section.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the machine shown in Fig. 1, partlydismantled so as to facilitate the disclosure of its construction.

Figure "3 is a vertical cross section taken about on the line 3-3 ofFig. 2.

In practicing the invention, I provide a movable frame constructed to bemoved over the surface which is to be brushed; this frame carries aplurality of rotary brushes and these brushes are preferably pivotallysupported on the frame so as to swin toward the surface. In addition toth1s, I provide means for pressing the brushes against the surface, andmeans for rotating them ontheir. axes. I also provide means foradjusting the pressure of the brushes against the surface.

I shall now describe a machine embodying these features which is ofspecial construction adapting it for brushing a pipe.

Referring particularly to thedrawings, 1 represents the frame ofthemachine, which may be of any suitable construction but in the presentinstance comprises two end plates 2 and 3, the former of which isprovided with handles 4 enabling the frame to be shoved along on theupper side of the pipe 5. If desired; the end plates 2 and 3 may beprovided with a pair of rollers 6 at each end which roll on theupperside of the pipe. The .frame also includes a plurality of longitudinalframe bars or "tie bars which connect the end plates. 'In the presentinstance,

there are four supporting bars 7 disposed near the .corners of the endplates, and these bars are referred to he einafter as lateral supportingbars. In addition to this, I provide acentrally disposed supporting bar8 which is located in the central plane of the frame and directly overthe pipe.

In Fig. 3, two brushes 9 and '10 are illustrated. These brushes arealike and are attached respectively to brush arms 11 and 12.- The brusharm 11 is pivotally supported on the central bar 8 and extends down onone side of the pipe, the brush 9 being attached toa brush shaft 13which is driven to rotate the brush on its axis. The brush preferablyhas a concaveface 14 to fit the periphery of the pipe. 1

Each brush arm and brush constitutes a brushing unit, and these unitsare similarly constructed. Practically the only difi'erence between themis in the point at which they are supported in the frame. For example,thebrush arm 12 is. supported on a pivot or horizontal pin 15 carried atthe lower end of a. hanger 16 rigidl attached, for example, by weldingto one o the upper lateral supporting bars 7. In order to facilitatethis attachment, the upper end of each brush arm is provided with arms17 connected by a sleeve 18 receiving the pivot pin 15. I prefer tomount the brushes to rotate on the longitudinal axes of the arms, and Ialso prefer. to provide an individual motor 19 for lid driving eachbrush. Each of these motors is mounted with its axis of rotation on theaxis of the arms. From the lower end of the motor a tubular housing 20extends down to the brush, and this housing envelopes the driving shafts13 of the brushes.

It will be noted that the brush arm which is attached to the upperlateral supporting arm extends across above the upper side of the pipe,while the brush arm 11 simply hangs down from the center bar to hold itsbrush 9 against the side of the pipe,

Means are provided for pressing the brushes against the pipe and forresisting the lateral thrust of the brushes on their arms, which thrustis developed by the contact of the brush with the pipe. In, order toaccomplish this, li provide means supported on the supporting bars andconnected to the brush arms preferably below the motors 19, that is to"say, between each motor and its corresponding brush. In the case of thebrush 10, l[ rovide a hanger 21 attachedto the central ar 8, 'and thishanger has two forks which support a spring carrier,

said spring carrier being in the form of a spring barrel 22 with aspring 23 within the same. Means is provided for imparting the pressurefrom this spring to the brush arm, and for this purpose I provide aplston rod 24 which is guided through the upper end or head 25 of thespring barrel and carri a piston 26 sliding within the spring barre Thespring is disposed between the head 25 and the piston 26, and acompresslo i spring exerting its force in a downward d1- rection.

The lower end of the piston rod 24 is attached by a pivot pin 2 to acollar 28 in the form of a split ring adjustably bolted on the housing20 for the brush shaft. The spring barrel is supported between the forks21 by diametrically opposite pins or trunnions 29, and these trunnionsare carried on opposite sides of an adjustable clamping ring 30 which isclamped on the barrel. By loosening up the clamping bolt 31 of thisclamping ring, the barrel can be adjusted further down, if desired, toincrease the ressure of the spring, or it may be adjusted urther up toreduce the pressure of the spring.

The brush arm 11 is held against the side of the. pipe by a similarspring holding device 32, which is constructed in the same way as thespring barrel 22 and its associated parts, except that the hanger 33 forthe spring barrel is attached to'one of the lower ineaeee lateralsupporting bars 7 which is adjacent to the brush 9.

While I prefer to employ an individual motor for each brush, anysuitable means may be provided for driving the brushes. I

prefer that the motors 19 shall be pneumatic motors, and 1n order tosupply them with operating fluid, such as compressed air, I provide amanifold 34 extending along the upper side of the frame and providedwith individual flexible hose connections 35, which connect to the forks17 which carry the motors. Said forks are provided with passages 36which conduct the air down to the motors.

As indicated in Fig. 1, it will be evident that by duplicating theconstruction for supporting thebrushes that is illustrated in Fig. 3,four brushes will be provided, two of which will engage the pipe atnearly diametrically opposite points. These two brushes would correspondto the brush 9 illustrated in Fig. 3. Likewise there would be twobrushes 10 intermediatefylocated between the brushes 9. As the machineis moved along, each brushbrushes a zone on the pipe. The width of thesebrushes is -suf-' crating the machine. This valve is connected to aflexible hose, 38 which supplies the compressed air to the machine.

It is understood that the embodiment of the invention described hereinis only one of the many embodiments this invention may take, and I donot wish to be limited in the practice of the invention, nor in theclaims, to the particular embodiment set forth.

What I claim is t 1. In a machine for brushing a surface, thecombinationof a movable frame con structed to be moved in a certain direction overthe surface, a plurality of rotary brushes pivotally supported on theframe to swing in a plane substantially at right angles to the saiddirection of advance and toward the surface, said brushes mounted so asto rotate on axes in a plane substantially at right angles to the saiddirection of advance, means for pressing the' brushes against thesurface, and means for rotating the brushes on'tlieir axes.

2. In a machine for brushing "a surface, the combination of a frameconstructed so as to be capable of moving along the surface, a pluralityof rotary brushes pivotally supported on the frame to swing in a planesubstantially at right angles to the direction of advance of the frame,each brush operating to engage a zone of the surface, said brushes beingout of alignment with eachx other and mounted so that the zones brushedby the brushes overlap each other,

and means for pressing the brushes into contact with the surface.

3. In a machine for brushing a surface, the combination of a frameconstructed so as to be capable of movement along the surface, aplurality of brush arms pivotally mounted on the frame,'a brush mountedto rotate on the axis of each brush arm, means for pressing the brushesagainst the surface, and means for rotating each brush.

.4. In a machine for brushing a surface, the combination of a movableframe constructed to be capable ofmoving along the surface, a pluralityof brush arms pivotally mounted on the frame, a motor carried on eachbrush arm, a brush carried on each arm actuated by the motor, means forpressing each brush against the surface, and means for supplyingoperating fluid to the motors.

5. In a machine for brushing a surface, ,the combination of a frameconstructed so as to be capable of moving along the surface, a pluralityof supporting bars extendinig substantially parallel to the direction ofa vance of the frame, a plurality of brush arms pivot-ally mounted onthe said bar's, brushes carried by the brush arms, means for pressingthe brushes against the surface to be brushed, and means for rotatingthe brushes.

6. a'machine for-brushing a surface, the combination of a frameconstructed so as to be capable of moving along the surface, a pluralityof supporting bars extending substantially parallel to the direction ofadvance of the frame, a plurality of vbrush arms pivotally mounted onthe said bars,

brushes carried by the. brush arms and mounted to rotate on thelongitudinal axes of the arms, respectively, motors mounted on the arms,respectively, for driving the brushes, and means for supplyingioperatingfluid to the motors.

7 In a machine for brushing the surface of a pi e, the combination of aframe constructe so as to be capable of moving along the pipe, aplurality of brush arms ivotal- 1y mounted on the frame and havingrushes engaging the sides of the pipe at different points on theperiphery thereof, means for pressing the brushes against the ipe, amotor mounted on each brush arm or driving the brushes, and means forsupplying operating fluid to the motor.

8. In a machine for brushing the surface of a pipe, the combination of aframe contructed so as to be capable of moving along t e surface,saidframe havin I a substantially central supporting bar disposed overthe position of the pipe and a pair of laterally disposed supportingbars, a pair of brush arms pivotally supported on the centrally disposedsupporting bar and having brushes engaging the pipe on opposite sides, apair of brush arms pivotally supported on the.lat-- eral supporting barsextending transversely to the frame and having brushes respectivelyengaging the upper side of the pipe at opposite points, and means fordriving the brushes.

9. In a machine for brushing the surface of a pipe, the combination of aframe with wheels for supportingthe same to move along the upper side ofthe pipe, said frame including 'asubstantially central supporting barand lateral supporting bars, a pair of brush arms pivotally supported onthe central bar and extending downward toward each side of the pipe, abrush carried by each of the said brush arms to rotate on itslongitudinal' axis, a brush arm ivotally supported on-each of saidlatera supportingbars and'extending across the upper s'de of thestantially transverse to the direction of ad-,-

Vance of the frame, a brush carried on the carrier to rotate in a planetransverse to the ion plane of movement of the carrier on its pivot, andmeans connected with the brush carrier for resisting the lateral. thruston the carrier developed by the contact of the brush with the surface. i

H. In a machine fo the combination of a f me capable of being moved overthe surface, a brush arm pivotally mounted on the frame to swing in a'plane substantiallytransverse to the direction of advance of the frame,a rotary brush carried by the arm to rotate in a plane transverse to theplane inwhich the arm swin brushing a, surface,

means forrotating the brush, and means or holding the same in contactwith the surfaceand for resisting the-lateral thrust on the armdeveloped by the contact of the brush with the surface.

12. In a machine for brushin "a surface,

the combination of a frame capa le of being moved over the surface, abrush arm pivotally mounted onthe frame to swin in a plane transverse tothe direction of a vance of the frame, a-brush rotatably mounted on thebrush arm for engaging'the surface, a motor mounted on the brush arm forrotating the brush, a spring holder supported on the frame connectedwith the arm and having a spring for forcing the arm down to press thebrush against the surface and operating to resist the lateral thrustdethe velo ed in the brush arm by the contact of rush with the surface.I 13. In a machine for brushin the combination of a frame capa 1e ofbeing moved over the surface, a brush arm pivotally mounted on the frameto swing in a plane substantially transverse to the direction of advanceof the frame, a motor carried on the arm, a brush shaft driven by themotor, a brush carried thereby, a housing surrounding the bru h shaft, aspring-barrel supported on the frame and having a spring with means forimparting pressure on the housing to hold the brush against the surface.

14. In a machine for brushing a surface,

the combination of a. frame capable of being moved over the surface, abrush arm pivotally supported on the frame and extending transversely tothe direction of advance of the frame, a brush carried by the brush arm,means for rotating the brush on the ,axis of a surface,

mam

the arm, a spring-barrel, means for pivotally supporting the same toswing on a transverse axis, a'spring in the barrel, a plunger within thebarrel pressed by the spring, and means connecting the same with thebrush arm-to press the brush against the surface.

15. In a machine for brushin a surface, the combination of a frame capa1e of being moved over a surface, a brush arm pivotally mounted on theframe to swin in a plane transverse to the direction of a vance of theframe, a brush carried thereby, a spring-barrel, means for adjustab ysupporting the spring-barrel on the frame, enabling the spring-barrel tobe adjusted toward 'orfrom the brush arm, a spring in thespring-barrel,and means actuated by the spring and connected with the brush arm topress the brush against the surface.

Signed at San Francisco, California, this 13th day of September 1926.

' v EDN P. ELY,

